Baroness Bus Driver Facing Multiple Charges Stemming From 2012 Crash

As widely reported,pProgressive rock masters Baroness were injured in a serious bus accident on Aug. 15 in the United Kingdom. After the band's tour bus crashed through a guard rail and plummeted 30 feet into a wooded area, various passengers sustained serious and gruesome injuries. The crash was attributed to a freak break failure at first, but now the bus driver is facing multiple charges, including exceeding the bus's weight limit, not possessing the correct type of driver's license and more.

Baroness' bus crash occurred while touring in England last summer, leaving frontman John Baizley with a severely broken arm and leg, bassist Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Blickle with fractured vertebrae and bassist Pete Adams with minor injuries. According to Baizley in our exclusive interview with the frontman, the bus driver, Norman Markus, sustained major injuries as well. Now, Markus is set to appear before Bath Magistrates' Court on April 5.

According to the BBC, Markus is facing charges of using a vehicle with defective brakes, breaching the bus' 7.5 ton weight limit, insufficient daily and weekly rest periods, using a vehicle in a condition likely to cause danger of injury and not having the correct license entitlement to drive the bus involved in the crash.

After a long and continuing recovery process, Baroness' John Baizley returned to the stage in Philadelphia to perform 'Coral Blue' with Converge at Decibel Magazine's 100th issue celebration. The next night Baizley and Pete Adams opened for Neurosis as a stripped-down version of Baroness.

Stay tuned for more news on the recovery of Baroness and the trial of bus driver Norman Markus.